Condo owners hit SC ruling

West Tower Condominium. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The head of the homeowners’ association of West Tower residents on Tuesday said that he and the other members were not in favor of the Supreme Court decision ordering the reopening of the First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) pipeline.

“Those pipelines are around the same age. If one has many defects then what do you expect of the other one,” said Robert Dimayuga, president of West Tower Homeowners Association, referring to the FPIC’s black oil pipeline (BOPL) and white oil pipeline (WOPL) systems.

Dimayuga, however, added that he had yet to read the high tribunal’s decision as he noted that the newspaper reports about the order were quite confusing.

“One report says it’s just one pipeline; other reports say it’s the entire pipeline. We want to see the copy of the decision to make sure what the high court really says,” he said.

In an order dated May 31, the high court said it was allowing FPIC to reopen the BOPL system.

According to the court, the writ of kalikasan and the accompanying temporary environment protection order that Chief Justice Renato Corona granted on Nov. 19, 2010, to West Tower residents covered only the WOPL system of the Lopez-owned firm.

Sought for a reaction, FPIC president Tony Mabasa told the Inquirer that the two pipeline systems were separate structures that were built beside each other.

He said the 105-km BOPL system transports bunker fuel from Batangas to Sucat in Parañaque City.

On the other hand, the 117-km WOPL system, a portion of which is located near the West Tower condominium, stretches from Batangas to the Pandacan oil depot and carries refined products, gasoline, diesel, aviation gas and kerosene.

It was shut down in October last year after it was found to be source of the oil that had been leaking into the West Tower basement since July last year.

As for Dimayuga’s statement that the FPIC pipelines were old and defective, Mabasa said the West Tower residents were just posturing “because they want us to buy the West Tower for P2 billion.”

He said FPIC turned down the offer because it found the amount “unreasonably high.” He added that the offer was made by the homeowners through Kapunan.